Abstract:
Energy, or the lack of it, is the planet's biggest threat, a Nobel laureate told a group of business and civic leaders gathered for Earth Day. "The mission here is to find the new 'oil,' " Richard Smalley, chairman of a Houston-based nanotechnology firm, told 200 participants at a "livability summit" hosted by Valley Forward. But getting there will take political leadership that is lacking today, said Smalley, who won the 1996 Nobel Prize in chemistry.